Brassiere



May 19, 1953 M. C. FRIDOLPH BRASSIERE Filed Jan. 2, 1951 INVENTOR. MAUDE c. FRIDOLPH BY HER ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 19, 1953 UNITED ATENT race 2,638,596 nsAssnnm Maude .Ffldo asa ena l Application January 2, 1951, Serial-No. 203,961

. 3 C aims- 1 This invention relates to a brassi'ere.

The conventional brassiere with which I am 'fam'iliarusually encircles the body in a generally horizontal plane, that is, the bottom edge of the 'brassire extends aroundthe body in a substantially straight horizontal line just below the bust and at the lower ends of the shoulder blades. With lorassieres of this type the weight of the host has a tendency to cause the cups at the front of the brassiere to sag and to thereby cause :the hack of the bra-ssiere to slip upwardly toward and above the shoulder blade line where the circumference of the body becomes greater. fl hisicauses muchdiscomfort-to the wearer, since :the -upw'ard movement of the brassiere back causes a tightening of the brassiere under the oust-11mm :the front.

is an object of this invention to provide a 'brassi'erie which "gives the proper uplift support to the bust and which is designed to remain anchored on the body in a comfortable position.

More specifically, the invention contemplates a bra'ssi 'r'e the back portion of which extends around the side back portions of the wearers body in an arcuate downward direction conformto the natural *body contour and extends across the small of the wear-ers back well below "the shoulder blades at the center back of the brassiere. By shaping the back portion of the bras'sire in this 'mannerjthe brassiere fits around a portion of the body below the shoulder blades which :is-iof smaller scircumie'rence than at a horizontal section -just below the Joust line and resists any'upward movement 'in the back which would tighten the lower fron't edge of the ares- -siere under the bust-line. The arcuate shapeof the back portions of the brassiere ;-serves to anchor the brassiere in a comfortable position on the wearer's/hotly.

In the drawings:

,Fig. 1 is a side view of the .brassire .on a wearer;

Figs. 2 and 3 are front and rear perspective views of the brassiere on a wearer;

Fig. 4 is a view of the brassire in the open, flat condition;

Fig. 5 is a front view of a modified form of brassiere in the open flat condition; and

Fig. 6 is a front view of the band adapted to be used with a brassiere having a straight or slightly curved front edge to convert it to the type of brassiere disclosed in Figure 5. Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 4, a typical brassiere embodying the present invention comprises a front portion generally designated In which is preferably fashioned as two similarly shaped members i2 and M which are connected together at the center of the bras-- siere by a narrow elastic gore 5-6. The members 4'2 and M are provided with central seams l8 and are shir-red as at ill to form apair of breastreceiving cups 22 the upper portions of which are triangular or otherwise suitably shaped and have apices M or upper edges on which the brassi-ere shoulder straps 26 are anchored at the front of the brassiere. On their inner tacos, front sections l2 and 14 may have reinforcing panels 2% sewed thereto which support the bust in the desired contour.

' Along its upper and lower edges the front portion ill may be hemmed as at 3B and 32, respectively, with a suitable tape, the lower edge 32 preferably being arcuate in shape so that it curves downwardly from the elastic gore It to each end of the frontportion NJ. The front portion ill is dimensioned such that, at each end, it terminates along a generally vertical line below the wearers armpits. A pair of similarly shaped back member's -34 or straps are sewed to the side edges of front portion 1 0 as at 36.

' 1 The back portions "3d have a hemmed lower edge .38 which extends 'arcuately in a downward direction as a continuation of the arcuately contoured lower edge 320f front portion ltf The portions of the lower edges which extend around the side back portions of the-wearers body, that is, the edge portion between points a and E) are preferably shaped :as an arc of a true ci cle I h u d that whe t e lowe edge of the back. portions 34 of the brassifere is s a ed i his man er th b o ion .11.? ea

a a n the o and th lo e g th reo j gflljow the na ura body c tour n t 74.65. 91 }For fa $12? ,32 fbrassi'ere, I have found that the "ed e .38 between h P nt a a b 51. 10. Pre

?raib d s an arc having :a radius f approxim tel in hes- The uph ed es .41) 9 the back portions 3' 1 are shaped generally to provide the back portions 3 with a gradually decreasing vertical dimension towards the free ends of the back portions. At their free ends, the back portions 34 have small elastic gores 42 sewed thereto which members are provided with fastening means M, such as hooks and. eyes, for securing the ends of the brassiere together at the center back of the wearer. If desired, the entire back may be of elastic. The shoulder straps 26 are attached to the upper edge of rear portions 34 as at 50 and 52.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be observed that the rear portions E l are shaped such that, when the brassiere on the wearer, these portions extend arcuately downwardl around the side back portions of the wearers body with the upper edge of the brassire at the center back disposed at a lower level than the lower edge of the brassire at the front. The lower edges 32 and 38 extend along a curved line corresponding generally with the rib line of the wearer so that the elastic sores 42 connect together at approximately the small of the back. The lower edge of the brassire therefore encircles a portion of the wearers body that has a circumference less than the circumference of the body at a horizontal section at or over the shoulder blades just below the bust line. In other words, the body becomes increasingly greater in circumference in a direction upwardly from the lower edge of the brassiere. Inasmuch as the back portions 34 converge downwardly toward the small of the back, they are disposed below the shoulder blades and provide a V-shaped structure, which lies smoothly against the back of the wearer and, despite its flexibility, resists straightening. The need for the brassiere to expand in order to slide up, and the resistance of the V-shaped back to straightening, combine to anchor the brassire in the position illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

When a brassire of my construction is laid flat in the opened condition such as is illustrated in Fig. 4, the lower edge of the brassire generally describes a semi-circle. trast to conventional brassieres the lower edges of which, when laid flat, describe a straight line or a line which is only slightly curved at most.

The front of the brassire need not .be of the type described above. Any standard brassire can be adapted readily to the curved band type, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. In this type of brassire the front portion 50 including the cups 5] and 52 has a straight or nearly straight lower edge 53 and substantially straight, tapered back straps or bands 54 and 55. To adapt this type of brassiere, a band 56 is secured to the lower edge 53 of the brassiere. The band 56 may be formed of non-elastic fabric or elastic fabric or part elastic and part non-elastic fabric. The band 56, as illustrated, is formed of non-elastic fabric and has a substantially semi-circular lower edge 5'1 like that described, and a straight upper edge 58. One or both of the ends of the band may have an elastic gore 59 thereon which is provided with fasteners 60, for example, hooks, for cooperation with eyes 61 on the other edge 62. If the band 56 is formed of elastic fabric, the gore 59 may be formed of non-elastic fabric or ma be omitted entirely. In this latter form,'the band 56 is made long enough to compensate for the absence of the gore or gores 59. The band 56 extends, when fastened, almost to the waist-line thereby giving the effect of a long-line brassiere in back and a short-brassire in front. The band 56 anchors the brassiere firmly at the waist-line and gives support to the back without constricting the dia- This is in direct con- 4 phragm as with the ordinary long-line brassiere.

It will thus be seen that I have provided brassires which are designed such that they remain relatively firmly anchored on the wearers body in a comfortable position. Furthermore, the downwardly curved lower edge of the brassire prevents the back portion of the brassire from creeping up the wearers back. This construction prevents the tendency for the busts to sag and substantially eliminates the tightening of the brassiere across the front of the wearer's body just below the bust line.

I claim:

1. A brassiere comprising a front portion including a pair of spaced apart cup sections, side bands extending outwardly and downwardl from opposite ends of said front portion, and means to secure the outer ends of said side hands together, said front portion and said side bands having lower edges which describe substantially a semicircle when the front portion and side bands are laid fiat in an open condition.

2. A brassire comprising a front portion having a pair of spaced cup sections and having a generally concavely curved lower edge which extends downwardly from its center to its ends, and a pair of side bands connected to opposite ends of said front portion and extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom, one from each of the opposite ends of said front portion, said side bands having lower edges extending arcuately downwardly towards the free ends thereof and forming a continuation of the lower edge of said front portion to describe therewith substantially a semicircle when the garment is laid flat inan opened condition.

3. A brassiere comprising a front portion including a pair of spaced cup sections, back portions extending outwardly from opposite ends of said front portions, said front portion and back portions having substantially aligned straight lower edges, a band secured to said lower edges, said band having a substantially straight upper edge secured to the straight lower edges of said front and back portions and a substantially semicircular lower edge and fastening elements at its ends for securing said band at the back of the wearer from about the middle of the back substantially to the waistline.

MAUDE C. FRIDOLPH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,838,604 Wozencraft et al. Dec. 29, 1931 2,014,839 Fellner Sept. 17, 1935 2,352,367 Bujdossy June 27, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 748,061 France Apr. 10, 1933 

